EXPLORING FACILITATORS AND BARRIERS TO CONDUCTING SPIRITUAL HISTORIES IN OLDER ADULTS

Abstract Nurses can relieve spiritual suffering in older adult cancer patients through spiritual histories, yet may be reticent to engage in spiritual conversations. The qualitative aim of Lift the Spirit, a pilot feasibility and acceptability study, was to explore factors affecting cancer nurses’ perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to conducting spiritual histories in clinical practice. Lift the Spirit, an enhanced educational communication intervention, was designed to equip nurses with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to conduct spiritual histories. A purposive sample of nurses (n = 17) independently engaged in an online multimedia course, Spiritual Assessment in Clinical Practice, then synchronously role-played conducting a spiritual history in dyads (nurse/patient), engaged in a skills performance, and participated in Debrief Interviews. Qualitative data were collected during Debriefing Interviews using the Debrief Interview Guide. Interpretive description guided the qualitative content analysis of Debrief Interview data. Structural coding was used to sort data into barriers and facilitators on the first pass. Next, within each structural code, data fitting the definition of barrier and facilitators were inductively descriptively coded. Participants described barriers and facilitators at the levels of institution/profession (lack of education and training), self (vulnerability, perceived riskiness), and patient (cultural difference) that were similar to barriers already noted in the literature. Facilitators included feeling equipped and supported and having external cues as reminders. The degree of angst, fear, and vulnerability expressed towards conducting spiritual histories was surprising. Equipping nurses with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes is essential to reduce spiritual suffering in older adults.


HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO PRAY AND MEDITATE FOR BRAZILIAN OLDER ADULTS? SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC AND CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Mariana Salecker 1 , Yolanda de Souza 1 , and Angelo José Bós 2 , 1. Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul,Porto Alegre,Rio Grande do Sul,Brazil,Porto Alegre,Rio Grande do Sul,Brazil Praying and meditating are considered spiritual expressions, but little is known about this importance among older adults.Therefore, this abstract aim to understand the frequency and the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics related to the importance given by the Brazilian older adults to praying and meditating.This is a secondary analysis of the transversal data of the Older Adults Health Longitudinal Study, made by Fiocruz in 2015.The dependent variable is: "How much daily praying and meditating is important to you?" Independent variables included: sex, age, educational level, marital status, race, and self-perception of health.The relation between the variables were tested by Chi-Square, considering p<0.05 significant.Praying and meditating everyday were important in 87.6% of the participants.Higher percentages were noticed between the ages of 60 to 69 years old (88.8%) and the ages 80 to 89 years old (88.1%, p<0.001), women (91.6%, p<0.001), widows (90.8%, p<0.001), indigenous (89.1%, p<0.001), with primary school complete (90.5%, p<0.001) and with regular auto perception health (88.4%, p=0.051).We conclude that there is higher than expected frequency of Brazilian older adults who consider important praying and meditating.They are more likely to be women, widow, indigenous, younger, less educated and have regular selfperception of health.Nurses can relieve spiritual suffering in older adult cancer patients through spiritual histories, yet may be reticent to engage in spiritual conversations.The qualitative aim of Lift the Spirit, a pilot feasibility and acceptability study, was to explore factors affecting cancer nurses' perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to conducting spiritual histories in clinical practice.Lift the Spirit, an enhanced educational communication intervention, was designed to equip nurses with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to conduct spiritual histories.A purposive sample of nurses (n = 17) independently engaged in an online multimedia course, Spiritual Assessment in Clinical Practice, then synchronously role-played conducting a spiritual history in dyads (nurse/ patient), engaged in a skills performance, and participated in Debrief Interviews.Qualitative data were collected during Debriefing Interviews using the Debrief Interview Guide.Interpretive description guided the qualitative content analysis of Debrief Interview data.Structural coding was used to sort data into barriers and facilitators on the first pass.Next, within each structural code, data fitting the definition of barrier and facilitators were inductively descriptively coded.Participants described barriers and facilitators at the levels of institution/profession (lack of education and training), self (vulnerability, perceived riskiness), and patient (cultural difference) that were similar to barriers already noted in the literature.Facilitators included feeling equipped and supported and having external cues as reminders.The degree of angst, fear, and vulnerability expressed towards conducting spiritual histories was surprising.Equipping nurses with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes is essential to reduce spiritual suffering in older adults.

TRANSCRANIAL ELECTRICAL STIMULATION AS A TOOL TO UNDERSTAND AND ENHANCE MOBILITY IN OLDER ADULTS Brad Manor, Hebrew SeniorLife/Harvard Medical School, Amherst, Massachusetts, United States
Standing and walking are complex cognitive-motor tasks that rely on the function of numerous brain networks.This reliance upon supraspinal elements of the motor control system increases with age and many age-related diseases, especially when an individual must navigate unfamiliar environments and/or simultaneously perform cognitive tasks like talking, reading signs, or making decisions.Noninvasive transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) can safely and selectively induce both acute and longer-term changes in brain network function.It thus enables cause-and-effect study of the motor control system and moreover, holds promise as a therapeutic strategy to counteract age-and disease-related alterations in standing, walking, and mobility.The purpose of this talk is to introduce the fundamentals of tES, describe the effects of tES on the neural control of mobility in older adults, and finally, discuss current limitations and related avenues for future research and development within this rapidly-growing field of study.

SESSION 3150 (SYMPOSIUM)
Abstract citation ID: igad104.0936PRESIDENTIAL SYMPOSIUM: EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND STRATEGIES ACROSS GSA: BUILDING BRIDGES WITHIN THE SOCIETY Chair: Tina Newsham Discussant: Joann Montepare Across GSA member groups, we teach, train, and mentor in a variety of ways and for different purposes.Education is a tie that connects us across the Society.In this AGHE Presidential Symposium, representatives from the different GSA membership sections will discuss the educational needs of their members and share strategies they employ with their students, employees, mentees, and others to ensure the best preparation of the workforce.Researchers, care providers, educators, advocates, and others must be well-prepared to address the opportunities and demands of an aging society.Tamar Shovali, from Behavioral and Social Sciences, will present empirically supported approaches to intergenerational communication and training to foster relationships between aging individuals and their communities.Biological Sciences member LaDora Thompson will highlight current educational efforts in translating geroscience discoveries into new medical advances.Health Sciences member Matt Peterson will present strategies, challenges and opportunities learned from a currently funded health sciences mentoring program.Social Research, Policy, and Practice member Nancy Kusmaul will discuss efforts to shape policy to enhance geriatrics and gerontology education.AGHE Chair Joann Montepare will serve as discussant, exploring how AGHE can build more bridges by integrating educational efforts in several unique ways.Collectively, presenters in this session will highlight the connections and opportunities for collaboration across GSA member groups.

POLICY CONSIDERATIONS FOR GERONTOLOGY AND GERIATRICS CONTENT IN HEALTH PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
Nancy Kusmaul, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

EXPLORING FACILITATORS AND BARRIERS TO CONDUCTING SPIRITUAL HISTORIES IN OLDER ADULTS Monica Beck 1 , and Amelia Gallagher 2 , 1. University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama, United States, 2. The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama, United States
Chair: Kirsten Corazzini The Joseph T. Freeman Award lecture will feature an address by the 2023 Freeman Award recipient Joe Verghese, MD, FGSA of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.The Joseph T. Freeman Award is a lectureship in geriatrics awarded to a prominent clinician in the field of aging, both in research and practice.The award was established in 1977 through a bequest from a patient's estate as a tribute to Dr. Joseph T. Freeman.The Excellence in Rehabilitation of Aging Persons Award lecture will feature an address by the 2023 Excellence in Rehabilitation Award recipient Brad Manor, PhD of Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research.The Excellence in Rehabilitation of Aging Persons Award is designed to acknowledge outstanding contributions in the field of the rehabilitation of aging individuals.